Rebecca Partridge
Design Researcher UCHD and Lab4Living
You can get in touch with Rebecca Partridge by contacting us.
Rebecca graduated with a 1st from the Mdes Product Design course at Sheffield Hallam University in June 2012. During her degree she completed an eight month placement in a product design consultancy and it was during this placement that she discovered her interest in the design of medical products. Rebecca’s final year projects focused on this specialist area.
The first project looked at the redesign of mobile oxygen for COPD patients. The second, more in depth piece of work, involved the design of a mobile infusion device, focusing on the impact of long-term health conditions and questioning ‘how do we enable patients to live as normal a life as possible for as long as possible’. During her final year Rebecca also worked with Sheffield Hallam University’s Lab4Living on the RSA Design & Rehabilitation initiative , taking part in a series of workshops to teach design to people with spinal cord injuries as a route to independence, resourcefulness and greater control over their lives.
Rebecca’s key interest within design for the medical sector is in the management of long-term health conditions; how can designers work with patients to develop better products and services? How do we use creative design thinking as a tool for empowerment and how do we enable patients to live as normal a life as possible for as long as possible? Rebecca is now working within UCHD and Lab4Living as a Design Researcher and hopes to do a PhD to continue the exploration of these questions.
